Credits: CA/X
Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood got ruled out of the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The bowler suffered a calf-injury on Day 4 of the Gabba Test during warm-ups, which forced him to bowl only one over on Tuesday. Cricket Australia confirmed that the scans revealed a strain in his right calf. It can be said that Australia’s decision to bring Hazlewood back into the XI backfired. He had missed the second Test due to a side strain, and was replaced by Scott Boland.
While Hazlewood recovered from the injury in tim for the third Test, he suffered a fresh strain. He entered the field late at the start of play on Tuesday after having spent time talking with head coach Andrew McDonald and physio Nick Jones. During the drinks break, he was a part of a lengthy conversation with Cummins, Steven Smith and the physio before walking off the field. Cricket Australia initially confirmed he had “calf awareness” and he went for scans, which confirmed the severity of the injury.
Hazlewood is likely to miss the remainder of the series: Cricket Australia
The Australian cricket board later released a statement and confirmed that he has been ruled out of the remaining Brisbane Test. A CA statement read, "Josh Hazlewood has sustained a right sided calf strain which will prevent him from playing any further part in the Test match against India in Brisbane.” It added, "He sustained the injury during the warm-up this morning and after bowling one over was unable to continue. He is likely to miss the remainder of the Test series. A squad replacement will be made in due course."
Notably, Hazlewood previously suffered a mild-calf strain earlier in the year, which kept him out of the T20I series against Scotland and England. The opening Test of the BGT 2024-25 series was his 10th consecutive match after a frustrating couple of years, when he was hit by a series of injuries.
